Charts – 19 September 2025
Well, Ed Sheeran’s got an album out, and it’s a reasonably big deal, but not as big a deal as it used to be.
“Golden” gets a seventh non-consecutive week at number one, but it is past its peak and Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” came very close this week. If “Golden” manages another week, it will be a surprise.
16. Ed Sheeran – “Camera”
This is the release week single from his album “Play”, which predictably becomes his ninth consecutive number 1 album. “Camera” is the album’s token epic ballad, and it becomes the fifth top 40 track from the album. Most people can only dream of getting that many hit singles off an album.
The X-Axis – w/c 15 September 2025
UNCANNY X-MEN #21. (Annotations here.) No X-Men Unlimited issue this week – they often take weeks off between arcs but for some reason they’ve started doing it mid-story of late. Which is a silly idea but what the hell, it’s only the Infinity Comic. So we’ll move straight on to Uncanny X-Men as it wraps up for “Age of Revelation”.
Now, I remember the original “Age of Apocalypse”, which also did the stunt of “cancelling” the line and replacing it with stand-in books for the duration of the event. And the first time around, they made a point of actually leading in to the event. The official prologue was confined to the core X-Men titles, but the other books at least ended on a cliffhanger before going into their break. We’re not getting that here – in some cases that’s because the book had been cancelled, or perhaps they just weren’t sure what it was doing on the other side of the crossover, but even Uncanny X-Men isn’t actually doing anything to set up its participation in the story. Which is very weird in terms of momentum. It hasn’t felt in the slightest like we’re leading in to a big event – it feels like the line is closing down for the winter.
Magik #10 annotations
MAGIK vol 3 #10
“Above All”
Writer: Ashley Allen
Artist: Germán Peralta
Colourist: Arthur Hesli
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Editor: Darren Shan
COVER: Magik and Mirage pose dramatically.
This is the final issue of the current run. Magik doesn’t have an equivalent title during “Age of Revelation”, but some sort of sequel with the same creative team has been announced to start in January.
PAGES 1-2. Magik, Mirage and Liminal hold the Society of the Eternal Dawn at bay.
The previous issue ended with the trio confronting the Embodiment and retrieving Cal’s heart (which Embodiment magically removed in issue #7), ultimately with a view to exorcising Liminal from Cal’s body. Magik also removed the limits on Liminal’s powers so that he could help them, presumably relying on the fact that he hadn’t fully adjusted to Cal’s body to keep him under some sort of control.
Phoenix #15 annotations
PHOENIX #15
Writer: Stephanie Phillips
Artist: Roi Mercado
Colour artist: Java Tartaglia
Letterer: Cory Petit
Editor: Annalise Bissa
COVER: Well, that’s Phoenix being a bit upset, I guess.
This is the final issue of Phoenix before “Age of Revelation”, where it’s being replaced by Binary. Spoilers: it’s a bit of a mess.
PAGES 1-3. Flashback: Oblivion is persuaded to join the intervention against Phoenix.
This flashback takes place before the final scene of the previous issue, where Marvel’s pantheon of abstract cosmic entities lured Phoenix to the White Hot Room to confront her about her refusal to destroy Sara Grey. We established in issue #13 that Sara is not Jean’s real sister, but rather a copy inadvertently created by Jean from her memories of Sara in issue #10. We are assured that Sara’s continuing existence leads to a future timeline which is some sort of zombie wasteland, and so she must be destroyed. Why? It just does. But it’s really important to the plot that it just does. It’s literally the entire premise of the plot. So make a note of that, we’ll come back to it later!
Uncanny X-Men #21 annotations
UNCANNY X-MEN vol 6 #21
“Of Mice and Mutants”
Writer: Gail Simone
Artist: Luciano Vecchio
Colour artist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Tom Brevoort
COVER: Wolverine and Ransom at a comic convention. We’ll come to which one below.
This is the final issue of Uncanny X-Men before it goes on hold for the “Age of Revelation” event. In practice, the next issue is Unbreakable X-Men #1.
PAGES 1-3. Flashback: Ransom’s origin story.
This is a significantly expanded version of Ransom’s origin story from issue #3. In the original version, Valentin says that he was born with no heart; that his parents were “wealthy and vain” and “my imperfection shamed them”, and “when I was kidnapped, they wouldn’t pay the ransom. His powers then activate when they try to kill him. He finishes that account by saying that “I ran away from home. 13 years old. Better to belong to nothing than to belong where you aren’t wanted.”
Daredevil Villains #59: The Hand
DAREDEVIL #174-176 (September to November 1981)
“The Assassination of Matt Murdock” / “Gantlet” (sic) / “Hunters”
Writer, penciller: Frank Miller
Finisher: Klaus Janson
Colourists: Glynis Wein & Klaus Janson (#174), Christie Scheele & Bob Sharen (#175), Glynis Wein (#176)
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Editor: Denny O’Neil
We’ve already had Elektra and the Kingpin, and now we complete the trinity of enduring creations from Frank Miller’s Daredevil.
Ah, the ninja! Historically, an expert in stealth, spycraft and infiltration. Over time, a part of Japanese folklore, with quasi-magical abilities. And in the Marvel Universe, a bunch of anonymous guys in bright red who attack in large groups and die. Or at least, that’s how they come across if you first encounter them in later stories. They’re the ultimate redshirts.
But what about their first incarnation? After all, recurring villains tend to rack up a string of defeats over the years – that’s the nature of the beast. Surely it was different when they started? Right?
The Hand make their debut in issue #174, when they assassinate one of Elektra’s targets before she reaches him. The narrator tells us that they’re “the same order of master assassins that taught her the many ways of murder before she broke training to operate on her own.” We’re told that the Hand want to kill Elektra because she left. But that’s not why they’re here – instead, the Hand have been hired to kill Matt Murdock.
Four anonymous ninjas do indeed attack Matt in his apartment. You might think that this was overkill when dealing with a blind lawyer – the random target in the prologue was taken out by a single ninja with a crossbow – but it sets the tone for the Hand right from the off. Why bother with stealth when you can just chuck expendable swordsmen at the problem? Now, these particular ninjas don’t know that Matt is Daredevil, and so they have an excuse for being taken by surprise when he fights back. And Matt duly beats them, almost singlehandedly – Elektra helps him out with the last one. In the aftermath, we learn that the ninjas always commit suicide and into gas when they’re defeated.
Charts – 12 September 2025
The KPop Demon Hunters era continues…
Six weeks at number 1. It has peaked, though, and Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” is gaining on it at number 2. The two Saja Boys tracks remain in the top 10, with “Soda Pop” at 4 and “Your Idol” at 7; and the Twice songs from the soundtrack are at 24 (“Takedown”) and 35 (“Strategy”). So KPop Demon Hunters is still accounting for more than 10% of the chart on its own.
9. Sabrina Carpenter – “When Did You Get Hot”
This is the three-song rule in action. “Tears” is a non-mover at number 3, and “Manchild” is at number 6; “When Did You Got” is a technical new entry at number 9 because it swaps places with “My Man On His Willpower” as the third most popular track on the album. That song’s streams would have placed it between numbers 10 and 11, but instead it’s disqualified.
The X-Axis – w/c 8 September 2025
ASTONISHING X-MEN INFINITY COMIC #36. By Tim Seeley, Edoardo Audino, KJ Díaz & Clayton Cowles. Um… yeah, you’ve kind of lost me here. What does the LMD stuff have to do with Morph and Changeling again? If Changeling was responsible for the break-ins then when the hell did he make it to the town for that to happen? Is the plot really that you can waltz into nuclear facilities just by copying the face of someone who used to work there but retired several years ago? Why have we been spending so little time with Morph/Changeling on panel if that’s the point of the story? I’m just confused. I usually like the Seeley/Audino arcs on this book but… this is a bit of a mess, honestly.
EXCEPTIONAL X-MEN #13. (Annotations here.) The wind-down for “Age of Revelation” continues. This book has an obvious temporary successor in Expatriate X-Men, with the same writer and two of the same characters, so I’m assuming that it’s continuing for now. Nonetheless, this issue is an evident attempt to draw a line under one major plotline – Kitty’s ambivalence about having been a teen hero herself – by using a time travel plot to give her a chance to change her history, and then letting her make the choice to affirm her history. It does that adequately on an emotional level, but it’s not the strongest issue of the book. The time travel gimmick is weirdly played, with some bemusing signals about when exactly this is meant to be happening. As a general rule, unless there’s some sort of meta point being made, the first rule of the Marvel Universe is “Don’t draw attention to the sliding timeline” and the second rule is “No really, for christ’s sake, don’t.” And this does, for no reason at all.
Exceptional X-Men #13 annotations
EXCEPTIONAL X-MEN #13
Writer: Eve L Ewing
Artist: Federica Mancin
Colour artist: Nolan Woodard
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Editor: Tom Brevoort
COVER: Kitty Pryde fleeing down an alley. This isn’t directly to do with the content of the issue – it’s a pastiche of the splash page from X-Men #131 (1980), Kitty’s third appearance.
This is the final issue of Exceptional X-Men before “Age of Revelation”, when it’ll be replaced by Expatriate X-Men for three months.
PAGES 1-2. Kate wakes up in Deerfield.
Kate was sent back in time by one of Reggie’s wormholes in issue #11; the kids followed with his help last issue, and were followed by one of the three Wolfpack Sentinels who attacked the dance studio. Presumably, with Emma’s help, Reggie was able to target the same point in time as the original portal, so they arrive more or less simultaneously. Emma is able to contact Kate through the portal as well, although the kids had lost touch with her last issue – presumably, she’s been able to re-establish contact now that the Sentinels are taken care of.
By the way, I suggested last issue that there had to be some reason for the Sentinels to suddenly attack the dance studio, but, well, none is suggested in this issue. You’d have thought that the Sentinels attacking the studio would be a big deal going forward, but if so, it’s not something that this issue finds time to deal with.
House to Astonish Presents: The Lightning Round Episode 27
Paul and I continue to bop back and forth to Counter-Earth this episode, as we look at Thunderbolts (1997) #69-71. There’s plotline resolutions, a parade of fill-in artists and the least elite team of Elite Agents of SHIELD you could ever hope to encounter, plus Boobforce powers, the Curse of Taz and Café La Plume De Ma Tante.
The episode is here, or available via the embedded player below. Let us know what you think, in the comments, on Bluesky or via email!
